The Indians are headed into their most important off season in quite some time. This season has shown what many of us already knew, that you can’t win with pitching alone. The Indians have become the talk of baseball for their development of starting pitching these last five to seven years. They have either drafted, or acquired via trade, young arms and then used their farm system to develop them into high quality pitchers. So much so, that they have traded three of them over the past two seasons and seemingly not missed a beat as young arms like Shane Bieiber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Triston McKenzie have emerged taking over for traded aces like Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger. The four listed above will anchor this team for a few years to come. Logan Allen, Scott Moss, and Jefry Rodriguez are still down in Columbus developing as well. Carlos Carrasco may be traded this winter along with Francisco Lindor to try and infuse additional young hitters into the organization. More thoughts on that in a bit.
That leads us to why this off season is so important, this winter the Indians need to take a serious evaluation of their developing hitters. They need to single out at least six or seven of these young men between all of their minor league levels and give them individualized attention next year with coaching. There has been such an emphasis on pitching that I feel the development of good, smart hitters has kinda fallen by the wayside. Hitters should also be the focus of next year’s draft the way pitching was in 2016, the draft that netted the Tribe Civale, Bieber and Plesac.
Secondly, the time has come to trade Francisco Lindor. Yes, I know he is an exciting player, and yes I know we all wish we could afford to keep him, but with the small market being even smaller in 2020 due to lack of fans being allowed to attend games, there is no way the Indians can afford to keep him. The same is true of free agents Carlos Santana, Brad Hand and Cesar Hernandez. Lindor however, will at least allow them to get players in return via trade. The Indians need to focus on acquiring as many solid hitting prospects as possible in exchange for their star shortstop.
As previously mentioned, I have read they may try and shop Carlos Carrasco as well, due to his somewhat expensive contract, and his overall impressive comeback season in 2020 after successfully battling leukemia in 2019. It likely depends on how hot the trade market will be this offseason as to whether or not both Lindor and Carrasco are dealt, but I think the Indians will at least take inquiries on Carrasco to see what he could net them in a trade. If some young hitting prospects are offered, the Indians should probably listen, as that is their big area of need.
However, they shouldn’t depend on trades alone to solve the offense woes. They should also select players from down in Columbus and give them a hard look in Spring Training. These are the five main guys I think deserve extended looks and some individualized coaching: Ka’ai Tom, Bobby Bradley, Nolan Jones, Daniel Johnson, and Yu Chang. Now three of these four have had limited major league experience, and it admittedly hasn’t been great, but if these players are willing to work, and I am sure they are, and we are willing to put some focused hitting coaching behind them, the potential they have shown in the minors could easily begin to translate to the majors.
Bobby Bradley has been a minor league monster power hitter and decent first baseman. He is the heir apparent to first base with Carlos Santana leaving via free agency again. With Lindor likely being traded, Yu Chang emerges as the most likely replacement at short, and he hit with incredible power this year at summer camp, so the potential is there. Chang starting 2021 at shortstop will likely be determined by if the Indians acquire any other potential replacements in trading Lindor, and/or possibly Carrasco. Regardless though, he has potential to be a good hitter and should be given some focused attention this off season. Both Ka’ai Tom and Daniel Johnson are outfielders who have hit for good averages in Columbus as well as shown power. If we can help them not be overwhelmed by big league pitching I think they could become legitimate corner outfielders. Nolan Jones is the apparent third baseman of the future, but with MVP candidate Jose Ramirez being locked in there for at least two more seasons, it is likely Jones will get time in the outfield in winter ball this year to make him more versatile. I would even see if he could play second base, since there will more than likely be an opening there in 2021 as well.
Of course ss has already been stated, all of this depends on what type of prospects we get for Lindor and/or Carrasco, and also what kind of spring Jake Bauers has next year, after he was left at the alternative training site in Eastlake for the entire 60 game 2020 season. Bauers can play both first base and the outfield, so he has some versatility on his side. There is also Josh Naylor whom the Tribe received in the Mike Clevinger deal, who admittedly was unimpressive in his final month of the year here, though he was very impressive in the quick two game playoff series with the Yankees. He seems to have potential to be a good contact hitter, but I would like to see him get some coaching on driving the ball more consistently, like he was doing in that brief playoff sample. The other two main hitting prospects they received from the Clevinger deal were infielders Gabe Arias and Owen Miller, who are probably not going to be ready until 2022-2023, so the Indians should evaluate them next year down in Akron and determine what kind of extra coaching they should receive. My understanding is they both have shown hitting and power potential, so it would behoove them to give them some extended looks.
Basically to sum up all of this, the Indians need to put a conscious and intentional focus on offensive acquisition and development over the next two to three years, both in house and via trade. All of our young pitchers aren’t going anywhere and will continue to improve at the big league level, so there is time to shift focus to a glaring need in this area of team development. I truly believe this is one of the best run organizations in professional sports, so they should be able to accomplish this with a commitment to focus on offense development. Don’t count them out. 2020 was a frustrating season in a tremendously difficult year in many ways, but good years are still ahead!
